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Writers often use other arts such as painting, sculpting or music as metaphors for their own creative task. Silvina Ocampo, herself an artist as well as a short story writer, follows this tradition by making frequent reference in her stories to various types of artistic endeavors. An examination of art and of artists which appear as characters in Ocampo’s fiction may shed light on the aesthetics which govern her written work; it may also provide clues to the issues of gender in Ocampo’s writing, “ese no sé qué femenino” mentioned by Eduardo González Lanuza in 1949. To do this, however,

[...]for a time she tries to avoid unpleasant thoughts: \"...mis visiones debían ser agradables; debía ser cuidadosa con mis pensamientos, tratar de evitar las ideas tristes, inventar un mundo afortunado... More disturbing eventually than the sense of responsibility is the loss of memory caused by Irene's \"gift.\" Because of so may images of the future, she has no ability to recapture the past: \"los acontecimientos, que pueden ser infinites en el recuerdo de los seres normales, son brevísimos y casi inexistentes para quien los prevé y solamente los vive.\" [...]she starts to see faces in the objects and goes mad, haunted by things. (107) Sinister elements quickly accumulate: the repeated sardonic refrain of the young narrator, \"¡Qué risa!\"; the special, almost mystical properties the senora attributes to the black velvet fabric of the dress; the shining, sequined dragon embroidered on its front; the mention of the lily, the flower of death, as the señora's favorite; and her repeated efforts to get into the heavy dress, impeded by her own hot, sticky body.